Ivanka Trump Says 'Viciousness' Toward President 'Blindsided' Her

During a Monday morning appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Ivanka Trump said she was caught off guard by the “viciousness” and “ferocity” directed at her father, President Donald Trump.

In a discussion that touched on the president’s infrastructure and economic initiatives, co-host Brian Kilmeade asked her if it was hard to focus on issues important to her when there were “distractions” ― like the investigations of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.

The first daughter said she was surprised by the harsh criticism Trump is facing.

“It is hard. And there is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting. I was not expecting the intensity of this experience,” she said.

“But this isn’t supposed to be easy,” she continued. “My father and this administration intends to be transformative. And we want to do big, bold things. And we’re looking to change the status quo. So, I didn’t expect it to be easy. I think some of the distractions and some of the ferocity was — I was a little blindsided by on a personal level.”

Trump also said she was “trying to keep my head down, not listen to the noise and just work really hard to make a positive impact in the lives of many people.”

The first daughter spoke after her brother, Donald Trump Jr., appeared with Judge Jeanine Pirro on Saturday night during Pirro’s segment on “Fox & Friends.” The conversation was friendly, glossing over some of the more pressing issues facing the Trump administration, like the Russia probe.

Ivanka Trump did say on Monday that her father felt “very vindicated” after former FBI Director James Comey’s hearing last week before the Senate Intelligence Committee. However, Comey suggested during his testimony that Trump had privately requested that he drop an FBI investigation and later lied and defamed him.

“My father felt very vindicated in all the statements that he’s been making and feels incredibly optimistic,” she said. “[We’re] incredibly focused on the reason we all went to Washington and what we’re fighting for.”

She also proceeded to wave off rumors about her husband -- who is reportedly being investigated as part of the Russia probe -- by saying that she and the rest of Team Trump are “really focused on why the American people elected Donald Trump president.”